That’s when we were alerted to the same thing happening to 69-year-old Sugar Land, Texas resident Cyndi Lombardi. She was evacuated from her home and found a room at the Holiday Inn Express in Wharton, Texas. When the manager realized she had her two cats in a carrier, she was unapologetically kicked out of her room and sent back out into the storm, her life – and the life of her two cats – put in serious danger.

Holiday Inn Express, Wharton, TX

I reached out to her for the details and were shocked by what she wrote back. The story is gut-wrenching, and best told in her own words. She describes how an event like this brings out the best and the worst in people. Here is her email in it’s entirety:

Cyndi’s neighborhood under water

Waiting out a tornado warning before the evacuation… photo credit: Meryl Veramonti

Hi Brooke:

I don’t usually write stuff like this, but I feel that in writing my story I can get some closure on the events of the scariest day in my life.

I live in Sugar Land, Texas, with my two loving rescue cats, in a lovely upscale apartment complex. My life is blessed and abundant, and I have a great job, and I’m healthy.

However, our families barely survived the hurricane as their home in Sienna Plantation was hit by a tornado, and then severe flooding leading to mandatory evacuation.

We were told that the evacuation route was University Blvd to 59 south, to the 10 Spur and head west.

We all got in our vehicles with kids, pets, and limited luggage in a matter of minutes.

When you are told to evacuate quickly, you take the things that are most important.

Cyndi’s daughter Meryl elaborated, “I asked [my mother] to wait in the car while I tried to speak to them on the phone. I called the onsite manager first and she would not talk to me. Instead, I was told she “left” and that there was no one of authority for me to speak to. The young woman on the phone sympathized with us but had her hands tied by the authority of her manager. I was then able to locate the General Manager’s private cell phone and called him next. I pleaded and begged and cried for him to let my mom stay. He said, ‘Our hotel does not accommodate pets. Your mother can stay but the cats cannot,’ and then he hung up the phone on me.”

As for Cyndi, her daughter said, “My mom? She’s unstoppable. Already back to her old tricks, helping rescue pets in the wake of Harvey, working as much as she can without Wi-Fi and staying dry. She may be 69, but she has the spirit and energy of a 20 year old.”

Cyndi volunteers for a rescue organization called Mutts n Meows. The apartment community she lives in, Retreat at Riverstone, has turned their business office into a drop-off point for donations of pet supplies for Mutts n Meows.

UPDATE: In response to this story, a spokesperson with IHG, the conglomerate that owns Holiday Inn Express, reached out to us with the following:

We are very sorry that Ms. Lombardi and her cats had this experience, and we are in the process of trying to connect with her to personally express our apology. Providing the highest level of hospitality is at the core of everything we do and we simply fell well short of our expectation in this instance — no ifs, ands or buts about it.

A big thank you to CatingtonPost.com for bringing this matter to light because we were able to quickly identify and get in touch with the franchisee — who is now accommodating guests with pets. When these isolated issues occur, we work to expedite a resolution. We have also been hyper-proactive in communicating with our franchisees in the impacted areas to underscore the importance of accommodating guests with pets.

UPDATE 2: Cyndi reached out to us again to let us know she had spoken with Michael Torres, VP at IGH and described him as, “very kind and cordial on the phone, humble, and an animal lover, as well.” He offered her upgraded rooms, free stays, an reward points as an apology, but she asked for a modest donation to the rescue group she works with, Mutts n Meows instead. So, he immediately made a $1,000 donation into the rescue’s non-profit account. Cyndi said, “I thought that was very kind and generous. I’m so glad that something good came from my horrible experience.”

UPDATE 3: An IHG Spokesperson contacted us once more to let us know that they are now requiring all their hotel brands in the areas affected by Harvey to allow pets free of charge. They made the following statement: “Many of IHG’s brands, including Hotel Indigo®, EVEN® Hotels, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites®, and many individual Holiday Inn Express® hotels, already are pet friendly. As IHG hotels continue to shelter individuals and families displaced by Hurricane Harvey, IHG has mandated that all its branded hotels in impacted and surrounding areas welcome pets free of charge during disasters. We have and continue to communicate this requirement to all hotels.”

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42 Comments

Joan Parker

Aug 31, 2017 at 4:55 pm

How rude and inhuman. If that was her family how would she have handled it. I can no comprehend how someone could evict someone from their room and make them go out in an unsafe situation. This I’d the second Holiday Inn that had no compassion. I would never stay at one again.

I would never give Holiday Inn business again what a low thing to do they should rethink there policy that really isn’t the best way of doing business in the time of trouble .There ‘s know words to say only boycott everyone of these hotels hit them where it hurts MONEY MONEYthen maybe they will realize don’t treat people like this

I am glad a donation was made, but the manager of that Holiday Inn should be fired immediately. As it is, I will never stay in another Holiday Inn. The behavior of the manager at the Wharton, TX location is inexcusable!!

It’s a very difficult situation. Since they were in a crate most any shelter would have allowed them in… Truth is, the further south you go the harder it becomes to get any hotel that will allow in an animal. Some for an extra $20 per night will allow in a small dog… ONLY SOME. I can see both sides… Sadly there has been so so much damage done to hotels, etc by animals… ON the flip side. I have stopped for the night at a hotel before and gotten a room that was beautiful But FULL of fleas… OMG that is a horrible experience. and it’s happened more than once, I rented a home on the ocean a couple yrs ago, $5,000 per wk in early Oct… damn place had fleas..OMG no refund, you get no other arrangements, they can’t put you up anywhere else,,,, you can leave if you want and loose all your $. An exterminator was sent out to get rid of them THE NEXT WEEK…after my trip was over… I spent a good bit trying to kill off some of them myself. It was horrible… Once the person checks out… it’s the hotel that is stuck with the damage… 2 older kitties weren’t likely to do damage… but 3 larger dogs? oh yes, they could and they were not crated. ;o(.It’s difficult on both sides…

SERIOUSLY??
It WAS in the aftermath from a hurricane, the storm was still going on. The hotel roof was leaking and the rugs wet. They sent her back out with no regard for her safety..
In circumstances such as these, peoples lives should trump the rules of the hotel, or the common sense of the manager should have kicked in, hope they loose their job!
So caring of you to excuse the managers actions because animals could have fleas.
So sorry about your $5,000 a week vacation by the ocean, lucky for you it wasn’t bedbugs (by the way, carried by humans)

Hi Everyone, Since I have worked with Holiday Inn corporate before, I reached out to find out what is happening. The VP of Communications took the time to chat with me. He was very apologetic, made no excuses, and is in the process of trying to get a hold of the women with the two cats. Here is what he sent me to share with you. “We are very sorry that Ms. Lombardi and her cats had this experience, and we are in the process of trying to connect with her to personally express our apology. Providing the highest level of hospitality is at the core of everything we do and we simply fell well short of our expectation in this instance — no ifs, ands or buts about it.

A big thank you to CatingtonPost.com for bringing this matter to light because we were able to quickly get in touch with the franchisee — who is now accommodating guests with pets. When these isolated issues occur, we work to expedite a resolution. We have also been hyper-proactive in communicating with our franchisees in the impacted areas to underscore the importance of accommodating guests with pets.” VP Communications of IHG of America.

This woman could have died being forced out into the hurricane. There is NO EXCUSE for the manager’s behavior. My family does a lot of traveling and I will assure none of them EVER stay at ANY Holiday Inn. There is nothing they can do to make up for this disgraceful behavior. Hopefully the employees involved will be fired!

I can understand someone not allowing pets if this was some kind of vacation and the person didn’t ask ahead of time. But a friggin hurricane?? I will NEVER stay at the Holiday Inn again. I always thought highly of them and had used them in the past but I have cats and this poor woman could have died in the weather with her pets. For ANY manager to refuse her refuge when she was PAYING for the room is totally unconsciounable. I hope that Holiday Inn loses business over this. Every pet lover should boycott their hotels. I also hope the manager who put this woman out in the rain storm again gets fired without pay. HORRIBLE HORRIBLE TREATMENT TO AN OLDER LADY AND HER CATS WHO WERE IN CARRIERS. I stayed for 8 months at a Red Roof Inn with my pets and had NO PROBLEM when I was homeless and needed a room to stay at. I guess HOliday Inn thinks they are too good to help people.

This Holiday Inn must have been run by Non Americans, that’s been my experience with them. I had an experience in Ft. Lauderdale, FL once, will never stay at one again! I felt like I was in a 3rd World Country!!!!!!!

I agree. I just drove across the country and can assure you that:
a) Holiday Inn Express is franchised, and the individual sites make their own decisions
b) the majority are owned by people from India, many from the Patel family
c) I had the misfortune of staying at one as well, because it was the only place available at when I got tired from driving at 2 AM. No time for details, but it was frightening.

I travel a lot for work and leisure. I will NEVER stay at another Holiday Inn after this. This is horrible. I refuse to give my money to a company that has such a complete disregard for someone’s well being. Where is their compassion? She wasnt on vacation, it was a friggin Cat 4 hurricane! I hope every animal lover and advocate refuses to stay there and shuts them down. Smh.

As horrible as this is, I think I’m seeing something else….that extra charge of $500 for being thrown out??? After she waited, my guess is someone else was willing to pay more money for the room and the manager was greedy enough to go for it. The lady sat in the lobby with the cats, so they weren’t a surprise, they charged her for the room, then fined her for the room, if the charges are on her credit card, then she should see her bank and get them reversed.

Holiday Inn, this is beyond unforgivable. I’m afraid you will have to do much, much more than simply apologize to this lady for putting her in such danger. I am a longtime Holiday Inn customer. Make it right with the Houston community, and in a big way. Then tell me what you have done, and I will come back to you. Sincerely, Tracey McTague, San Jose, California

I stayed at a Hoilday Inn Express after Katrina. It was in Janesville Wisconsin. I was heading back down to New Orleans and my van broke down. I had my son with me along with my 3 dogs. We checked into the room and called a tow truck. When the tow truck arrived, I went out to talk to the driver. One of my dogs started barking because I left the room. My son stayed there with the dogs but couldn’t keep her quite. Someone in the hallway called the front desk and said they were afraid of dogs and felt unsafe with a dog in the hotel. They threatened to kick us out. They knew my van had just been towed. They knew we were Katrina evacuees. I got a bit upset and asked ” where the hell am I supposed to go?” After I had a bit of a meltdown they said I could stay but if the dog barked again we would have to leave. I contacted their home office after I got home. I never heard back from them. I vowed to never stay at any Holiday Inn ever again. They just didn’t care. That hotel was dirty and there were lots of suspicious looking people there. It’s not like they are nice hotels.

This horrible customer service experience needs to be followed up on, with criminal charges against the business, and people involved. A check and an apology is hardly acceptable, because it could happen again, and again. Make CEO of IHG held accountable for the actions of staff at IHG.

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